Many McMaster staff have travelled to Florida and California to experience the magic of a Disney vacation. This week, Disney travelled to McMaster to share some of the secrets behind that magic in a special program for University staff.

Staff from across McMaster were invited to attend a complimentary 90 minute session focused on Disney’s Approach to Quality Service. Participants learned how Disney staff ensure a magical customer experience for all visitors. This session was offered by Executive Education at the DeGroote School of Business, which has partnered with Disney for the past eight years.

“We are so pleased Disney shared their “guestology” with McMaster employees,” says Melanie Garaffa, senior manager, organizational and employee effectiveness with Human Resource Services. “Human Resource Services is proud to sponsor such an excellent development opportunity for our employees.”

The long-standing reputation of Disney includes incredible service and friendly employees. In the program, staff learned the importance Disney places on attention to detail and how the organization trains their Cast Members (staff) to treat their Guests (customers) as VIPs. Throughout the engaging session, McMaster staff shared their personal experiences with Disney and identified opportunities to incorporate some of the organization’s practices into their own work.

Garaffa explains, “Regardless of industry, McMaster University has “customers,” and we are in the “customer-service” business. Our world-class reputation will build upon the time-tested methods at Disney to further empower our employees to be creative, innovative and collaborative within a framework for consistently exceeding our “customer” expectations. Disney has proven their magic to us.”

For staff interested in learning more about Disney’s approach to customer service, DeGroote is offering a full day session with Disney this fall. Disney’s Approach to Quality Service will run Nov. 5, 2013. Information and registration is available at http://execed.degroote.mcmaster.ca/programs/disneys-approach-to-quality-service.